Iron



1 G. E. KANTA IRON Filed Nov. 15, 1946- I IN V EN TOR. George E. Kan taBY/ 52 5% m lvx a ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 1, 1953 IRON GeorgeE."Kanta,Three Forks,"Mon't., assignorto The Hoover Company, North-Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio ApplicationNovember 15, 1946,;Serial No. 7119,9223

'5 Claims.

*The present invention relates to a new and improved sad ironconstruction, and more par- 'ticularly to those having a built-inheating device.

More specifically the invention relates to a sad iron having a uniqueoperating handle movable to a non-ironing position in whichit cooperateswith .another part of the iron to provide a wide base support havingunusual safety and stability characteristics. Another feature of theinvention is the provision of a collapsible iron rest which has a widebase so positioned that the center .of gravity of the iron proper fallswell within its periphery when at rest for safety and stability purposesand yet one which is. rugged, .simpleand readily operated to a compactcollapsed ironing position in which the rest presents no interferencetothe operator or the material being ironed.

The primary object of the invention is'therefore the provision of anovel sad iron having an operating'handle which, at the will of theuser, can be simply and readily operated to provide a Wide base support.or quickly collapsed to a position in which the supports are entirelyremoved item the action area.

.Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detaileddescription and the drawings wherein:

,Figure l is aside elevational view partially in section of a preferredembodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a side view showing the sad iron in an appended, restposition.

The sad iron may be of any conventional ty e, the one illustrated beingof the electrically energized type having a sole plate H and a casins 2.

Secured to the front of the casing is a handle bracket which maycomprise a generally .U-shaped member It. An operating handle it has itsforward leg pivotally mounted in bracket 13 as by a through bolt l5. Ifdesired, a coil spring [6 may be mounted on the pivot and have its endsoperatively connected to the bracket and the handle so as normally tourge the handle towards a closed position against the iron, or to anopen position as illustrated in Figure 2. Or spring 16 may be omittedsince some users may prefer to move the handle to both open and closedpositions manually. A preferred construction, and the one illustrated,employs the spring to urge the handle to an open position. Thisarrangement has the advantage of employing the spring to urge the handleto a fully open position and to insure a rest base of maximum size andstability without any particular vigilance on the part .of the operator.

,A .stop llxsecured to thej'lower end of the handle is shown as movablein arcuate slot 1'8 of bracket 13 and functions to limit the outwardpivotal-movement of the handle as will be. readily understood.

Secured .to therear of the iron is an upstanding member or post 19. Theadjacent portions of the handleconsist of front and side skirt members28 which are shaped to telescope about at least a portion of this post.If desired, the lower rear end of the'handle may be provided with acavity adapted-substantially to enclose post it when the handle is inclosed position. Preferably fiat spring members '21 aremounted on member19 and serve to guide the handle into closed position and to eliminateplay "between'the handle and the post.

A passageway22 is provided inthe grip portion of theha-ndle, and housesa latch member-23' which is pivotal-1y mounted near the rear of the"handle at 24. The lower end of thelatch lever is provided witha'notch'25 which cooperates with a 'catch26 secured to post -t9.Tl'ieuforvvard end of the latch lever is prov-ided'with a manuallyoperable button 2? extending through an opening '28 in the forward endof the handle into arconvenient operating position for the user ofxtheiron. Latch lever '23 is springbiased towards latched position by coilspring as.

An electric cord as may be permanentlyat- 'tached to the iron and extendthrough a side opening 3! in post it. 'A slot 32 in one of the lateralskirtmembers'z-fi of the handle registers with opening '31 and permitsthe handle to be pivoted into closed or open position withoutinterference from the service cord.

The iron may be provided with a conventional manually operabletemperature control device "having a control handle '33. As shown, thiscontrol is positioned centrally of the top side of the iron casing.

The operation of my novel construction will be apparent from theforegoing description. Normally the handle will be latched in closedposition as shown in Figure 1, ready for ironing operation. However,whenever it is desired to discontinue use of the iron temporarily or forstorage purposes, the operator merely depresses button 21 slightly andtilts the iron upwardly upon heel 34. Depression of button 2! rotateslatch lever 23 counterclockwise and permits spring [6 to urge the rearend of the handle outwardly and upwardly until stop l1 limits themovement.

Hence, as the operator tilts the iron backwardly the handle pivotsoutwardly so that the rear skirt portions 20 of the handle come to restupon the supporting surface. Thus, the iron is sup ported in part by therear of the handle and in part by the heel 34 of the iron.

It will be apparent that the supporting base comprises the full Width ofthe heel, the full Width of the widely spaced apart skirts of the handleand the widely spaced apart heel and opened handle end. Moreover, thecenter of gravity of the relatively heavy sole plate and its associatedcasing will fall well within the periphery of this supporting base, thusassuring unusual safety and stability.

Whenever it is desired to place the iron in use, the operator merelygrasps the handle and pivots the top of the iron forward while closingthe handle against the base. As soon as the handle has become firmlyseated about post i 9, spring 29 will cause the latch to become seatedon catch 26. Under these conditions the two supporting memberscomprising skirts 29 and the rear of the iron casing will be adjacentone another as will be manifest from the drawings. Thus the portions ofthe iron utilized to provide a rest are instantly movable to positionsforming a wide area base and collapsible to positions within theconfines of the iron proper thereby eliminating the possibility ofinterference with the user or the material being processed.

When the ironing task is concluded, the operator may tilt the iron backon its support and place it in a confined storage area without fear ofits becoming accidentally upset or of the hot sole plate coming incontact with adjacent stored articles. This constitutes anotherimportant feature of my invention.

Although the handle is shown as having its lower forward end pivoted tothe casing, it will be understood that the pivot may be located atvarious points between its opposite ends without departing from thespirit of my invention. Thus, I have found it advantageous for certainpurposes to locate the pivot at the top of the front leg portion of thehandle, as for example, when it is desired to locate the temperaturecontrol in the front leg. Other locations may be equally desirable aswill be readily understood.

While I have shown but a single embodiment of my invention, it is to beunderstood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense. I do not Wish to be limited to the specificconstruction shown and described but to include all equivalentvariations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A sad iron comprising a sole plate, a housing thereabove, acollapsible rest for supporting said sole plate out of contact with anironing surface including an operating handle mounted on said housingand pivoted thereto forwardly of the grip portion of said handle, meansfor limiting the pivotal movement of said handle between a normaloperative position and an extended position further removed from saidhousing, latching means for latching the rear, free end of said handlein said normal operative position when using or transporting said ironand for releasing said latch to permit pivotal movement of said handletosaid extended position in which the free end of said handle cooperateswith a portion of said housing to provide a rest for the iron to supportthe sole plate out of contact with an ironing surface.

2. A sad iron as defined in claim 1 including a cavity extendinglengthwise of said handle grip through which said latch means extends,said latch means including a control button located adjacent the forwardend of said grip and detent means cooperable with means rigidly securedto said iron for locking said handle in said normal operating position.

3. In combination with an electric iron having a sole plate and a covershell thereabove, of an operating handle pivotably connected to saidiron toward the forward end of said handle, an upstanding member rigidlysecured to said iron adjacent the rear end of said handle, said rearhandle end having a cavity formed to telescope over said rigid memberwhen said handle is pivoted into its normal operating position and beingengageable therewith to support said rear handle end during use of theiron.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 including means for mounting anelectric service cord in said rigid member so that the service cord doesnot interfere with the pivotal movement of said handle.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 including cooperating meansbetween said pivotably mounted handle and said rigid member to lock thesame in telescoped relationship normally, and manually operable meansfor unlocking said cooperating means to permit said handle to be pivotedwith respect to said iron when the operator so desires.

GEORGE E KANTA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

